Collage
by Coriana
Summary: Raymond Wall was not a good actor, and it showed through his performance. -/- A one-shot collection of various moments that may have gone unnoticed.
1. Play the Game Tonight

Title: Play the Game Tonight

Summary: Kei Ubusuna figured that her play would go just as the script was written

WC:1582

Notes: Welcome! This is a collection of story bits that might have gone overlooked (and yes, I'm sure some of you _did _notice them). They'll be in any character's prospective, and will mostly consist of scenes that any of the three (manga, anime, novels) might not have fully elaborated on.

...

* * *

What a pity.

The thought crossed my mind as I served the black-haired girl tea. With her shaking shoulders and tear tainted face, she could hardly keep the teacup from shuddering in her hands.

"I didn't mean to," Kasai said, more whispering into her tea than talking to me, her teacher.

I sat down opposite of her and sipped at my tea.

"I just still don't understand the reason why this is all happening. With Hara-san getting hurt… how much more is going to happen before it stops?" Kasai set her cup down since her body was trembling too badly. She tried to cover it by clasping her hands together.

"Come now, Chiaki-chan, you know _why_ it started. You shouted it out to the whole world that day, about your intention of using black magic."

Kasai reacted like she was being stabbed with a needle in the palm of her hand with every one of my words. More unwarranted tears ran from the corners of her eyes.

She looked like such a wreck, that I had to keep from rolling my eyes. This girl, how can anyone even see her as a threat? She cried half of the time, and she tried not to cry the other half. There was nothing threatening about her except for her voice, where she had been blessed with the gift of having incredibly angry sounding vocals.

That's the only reason people believed what she was saying was true.

"Kei-sensei… I didn't mean to do that – it just came out so fast, I was so angry. I –"

"Calm yourself, Chiaki-chan – words are powerful objects. I know you didn't mean to do it, but you said it nonetheless."

Kasai buried her face into her hands, sniffing into them like they were tissues.

Sitting in front of her like this, I couldn't help but feel disappointed in Kasai for all the tears that she'd spilled over this affair. Professional was not in Kasai's vocabulary.

"Why do you think it was Hara-san that the curse went after? She wasn't involved in the original hearing of it. Do you maybe think you have a personal grudge against her?" I didn't have to ask this question – I knew the full reason why Hara had been attacked.

I had even been present when she had been pushed down the stairs.

It was at a distance, of course.

I was just interested to see what reason that Kasai would come up with.

Kasai's eyes widened with me mentioning it, which I thought to be intriguing. Kasai ducked her head and mumbled something; which sounded something close to, 'I have no idea'.

Time slipped by, as I continued to drink my tea and Kasai wringed her hands.

"Kei-sensei, do you think it's possible that someone would be interested in me?" Kasai had an earnest look in her eyes.

"You're a beautiful young woman, Chiaki-chan. Why wouldn't anyone be interested in you? Besides from some basic reasons, of course. When a husband or boyfriend always has to worry about you getting angry and becoming harmful, it tends to make the relationship, well, stressful."

I would know from experience.

"But what brings up such a question at this time?" I only continued to press on the topic after I had seen Kasai's lower lip quiver a little.

"There is no reason."

"Perhaps somebody has caught your eye? I would imagine it to be that young scientist, Shibuya?"

Kasai's eyes widened in comedic-horror, "Oh, please, Kei-sensei, don't tell anyone!"

I continued to smile at Kasai's flustered state, but really? How stupid must the girl be to believe that I would just go around telling people about who her petty crush was? It was a shame that the girl wasn't as intelligent as she had first appeared to be when I had taken her under my wing.

"Mai-san told me that he was an Onmyouji…" Kasai said quietly.

I nearly gasped at the same time I was taking in a drink, which only ended up in an ungraceful choking spasm.

Kasai handed me a handkerchief to wipe my lips on.

"I – I just remember you talking about that once, that they're powerful. Maybe he can help break the curse I cast?"

"Chiaki-chan, you must not go near him without me there to accompany you. I can't go into details – you would not understand with your minimal knowledge – but you have to trust me, he can be dangerous. They can all be dangerous. If you're not careful, disclosing any information to them can lead to _your _death. If they learn too much about you, they can turn all the demons and curses you've conjured back onto you. You must keep away from them; especially now since they have a personal vendetta against you because of Hara-san."

Kasai looked small, cowering in her chair. She was a gullible girl, mention that silly curse she thinks she cast, and she'll immediately swallow any lies you offer her.

Her chin was quivering again, and I looked down into my tea as I could not bear to see how pathetic she actually was.

…

He was an arrogant bastard, really.

How could someone look so haughty and sure of themselves, when they're wearing a hospital gown and reclining in a bed?

It didn't matter what he was wearing or where he was though – the only thing that mattered was that damned magazine he held in his hands. He had a guarded look in his dark eyes. It was that calculating, suspicious look that everyone looked at me with sideways. The thing they knew subconsciously. It wasn't anything new to me, and I had come to not expect people to look at me any differently at this point.

Except for Kasai. She had admired me, not feared me. Perhaps that's why she was so annoying.

Even now, her eyes only held shock and hurt from the betrayal. The girl trusted too easily – and the wrong people on top of it.

It was such a disappointment, really. I had been expecting so much more to come from this big, beautiful mess. Especially from Kasai, who was the main actress.

I walked out of the hospital room, without making any more eye contact with the people. The tall man escorted me out. I could feel the energy that was coming off of him, prickling my skin.

"Ubusuna-san," he said, once we had exited the hospital.

"Yes?" I smiled. My smile was an enchantment in its own right – it disarmed people. Calmed them. Unfortunately, it held no power over this man, or his boss.

"I don't trust that you will keep your word," he said.

Nobody trusted me. As they should – normally when they did they got stabbed in the back. Just look at where it left poor, pitiful Kasai.

"Perhaps it's for your own good," I told him.

"I believe that you misunderstand – I am not here for you to laugh at me, I am here to scare you."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Ubusuna-san," he said, a soft tone to his voice that actually made a chill skitter up my spine. I could not recall the last time that had happened to me. "I am here to tell you not to do it again. If anything happens to the girl, we will know that it was you."

"Do you think I wouldn't know such a thing?"

"Sometimes people forget minor details."

We were quiet as we assessed each other. I was not weak in my power… and yet… I could not match his.

Our war was over within a five-minute stare down.

It was… unfortunate in a type of way, because all-in-all, I had lost.

They had left me in a deep rut, which I could not remove myself from without being knocked back down and, in a result, only amounting to my undesirable death.

The tall man turned away and left, returning to the hospital.

As I watched him leave, I felt like he took the key with him. I was now just a locked-up coffin. Confined in my own hell.

It was really regretful. Everything would have gone so smoothly, if those two had never showed up. The other spiritualists would never have been a problem. Their sights had been so set on Kasai – like everyone else – that they couldn't see the one pulling the strings behind the poppet. They had been just a bunch of stuck-up, powerless amateurs.

The Onmyouji, the boy and… that girl. I don't remember her name anymore. She had caused problems by alerting people that something might have been going on behind the scenes. I will admit that I panicked a bit when it came to that one… If I had never hexed her to try and silence her, then I could possibly not have been in this situation at this moment.

Kasai had been such a perfect play. The girl had so many suicidal tendencies, that no one would have questioned the day that she would have committed her own death. She only needed a little more subliminal prompting and bullying to be completely pushed over the edge.

Then after that, I would have just halted all of my curses. With the spells disappearing the day Kasai's grave was filled, everyone's belief that it was all her doing would have been entirely sealed. No one would have noticed the person behind the curtains.

It would have been a truly beautiful show.

What a pity.


	2. Illusions

**Illusions**

WC: 1,076

Note: Set in the 'The Cursed House' case when Mai is having her dreams about the old land. Told from Gene's view, during the dream.

Summary: Gene had always wanted to act in theatre. He never expected the blood to be real, though.

...

* * *

...

I think I'm having an identity crisis.

When I had been little, I had always wanted to be an actor (or, you know, at least when I was alive). So, to be here right now, truly playing the part of a performer from the beginning of the story, with the staggering opening, to the middle with its sweeping, tragic romance, to the character's last, epic moment of epicness… I had made it to the climax of the story.

In the end, though, this was not a movie. I was not an actor, even though I was playing the part… and above all else, it was all very real. Particularly the weight of the cold knife in my hand and the hot blood dripping down my fingers.

Also, the dead person at my feet.

The wind was rushing through the forest with such haste, that it was making the clouds truly fly across the sky, and sweep my sweat-damp hair from my forehead.

I heard her footsteps and harsh breathing behind me, with a loud clarity that shouldn't have been detectable in this wind.

When the approaching girl witnessed my sin, she wretched in a breath. Did her horrification stem from the fact that he had died by my hands, or that she had been the reason for his death?

"I murdered him," I heard myself say.

"No…" Mai said, clamping her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide at the sight in front of her.

"I had to…" I said, my lines recited well. I had watched this movie before. "When I came here, he was waiting…I thought you had betrayed me, Mai."

"I would never do such a thing," she said, her voice hitching with trapped emotion in her throat. She looked me full in the face, and I had that identity-crisis thing going on again… because when I concentrated on her, I saw the face of another woman, with long flowing hair and a serene face twisted in shock and desperation.

"But he has money, and prestige. Naturally, I thought you would choose him, Mai." I said her name only to keep me based in this make-believe reality.

"This can't be! I did this and even ran away with you… Why don't you believe me?"

"Then why did he come here? You and I were the only ones who knew about this place."

I knew my beloved would never lie to me, or betray me, so then where did my skepticism come from?

"It's not like that!" she said, wringing her hands together. "Someone secretly swapped the letter. I was waiting at a completely different place."

I reached out my hand to her, grabbing very firmly onto the moment of this memory. The impression was so deep and emotionally distressing, that it was easy to get lost in the remembrance. Mai's spiritual form flickered back and forth from being herself, and from the real woman of the memory, that it left me confused.

Then, by touching her hand, it stabilized me and her, until she came into abrupt clarity of who she really was – _Mai_ – we moved up in a smooth ascension (since this was a dream slash memory, it seemed normal enough) and we flowed with the wind through the trail the trees opened for us.

As I gripped her tighter, she said, "Where do we go from here?"

"We can't run away after killing someone… and if we turn ourselves in, they'll just kill us anyway."

"…Should we kill ourselves?" she buried her pretty face into my shoulder, trying to boldly keep her sob down.

Our eyes met and I gave her the softest smile that I knew I possessed. Truly, I didn't know where it came from.

She gazed back just as strongly, then said, "…Let's do it together."

…

– The next scene of the story was not of the same story, but of the same land and of the same mindset.

We were on the ground again, with our haggard breathing and unceasing, beating footsteps.

Mai ran alongside of me, worse for the wear than me. I held her hand tightly as she let in a sharp in-take of breath. Knowing the way that this memory went, I knew that she had looked behind us. I could also feel the fear that shot down her spine as she witnessed the mob coming after us.

"Naru," she said, jolting me from the name-usage. "They're chasing us." The words came out between labored breaths.

Ahead of us was the shrine, and I could feel Mai's confusion tingle through the palm of my hand into my skin. The two abrupt memory sequences, changing so quickly and intensely, left her bewildered and disoriented.

_The sea._

I felt her hand slip from mine, and turned to see her on her knees, breathing like a person saved from drowning.

"It's no use, I can't… run anymore." I could see her whole form shaking from exertion. "I can't go on…"

"We're surrounded." The voice came from my side, and even though I didn't know these people, I was pleased with the comfort they provided. An actor was only as good as his co-stars, and I was willingly to trust the ones that my brother put his in.

Mai looked up at the monk, her identity-disorder overtaking her to as her mind raced between the onslaught of stories.

"Why is this happening to us?" the red-haired woman said.

"We're prepared for this," Lin-san said.

It was an unfortunate thing that Noll couldn't make it for the end, but he was too busy fighting against his own stories and memories to join us for the finale of this one.

Pitchforks, shovels, torches, hands… People came bearing every weapon of destruction they possessed. Mai reached up her hands to me, and I pulled her up and brought her close.

Even though I knew how this story would end, I was shaking from the fact of not wanting to watch it again.

I gripped the trembling Mai tight as Eijirou moved closer, lifting up his katana. I've seen the look of murder in many peoples' eyes, but it always left me shocked from the amount of viciousness that people actually held.

"_I will curse you from beyond the grave…!_"

As the blade was coming towards us, I gave Mai's shoulders a gentle squeeze and sent her back to her dimension. Soon to follow after her.

But only in her dreams.


	3. Mediums, Monks, Mikos, Oh My

**Mediums, Monks, Mikos, Oh My…**

**Summary:** Did anyone ever wonder why the principal was mail-ordering psychics?

**Note1: **Told in the point of view of the principal of Mai's school, in the first case, Evil Spirits All Over…

**WC:** 3,954

**Note2:** This is mostly based off of (dialogue &amp; scene structure) the actual novels and manga, instead of the anime.

...

* * *

...

The day that he finally decided to call a medium for the supposed 'ghost' living at the old school, he didn't know where to start looking.

_Why don't they have a 1-800 number for ghost busters_, the principal, Ishii Yoshito, considered. He was flipping through his phone book, but there really wasn't a very good list for psychic researchers or mediums.

He truly hoped that Hara Masako's agency got back to him. Now _that_ would be something special. She would probably bring her director, camera crew, make-up artists, screenwriters…! And it would only be so long until his school was on TV. What a sight. He personally thought that he would make a good actor. Especially as the part of the poor, sabotaged principal harried by his small haunted school.

Coming back down from his daydream, he had to admit deep down that he knew they would never contact him back, so he had better start looking for an alternative.

His eye kept being drawn back to the name located in Shibuya. Such a prestigious city called for a prestigious business sense. There couldn't possibly be a scam involved in this one. Shibuya's rent rate could not possibly hold a joke business.

_Shibuya Kazuya_? What a… convenient name, the principal thought. How could this man possibly work anywhere but Shibuya?

So with no further ado, he dialed the phone and got a monotonous voice on the line asking hello.

As Yoshito talked with the man, he couldn't help being prideful for his decision. The man seemed to know what he was talking about, and his voice indicated that he'd seen all the horrors of the world, so this shouldn't be a problem.

Now all to do was wait until next week, when they'll come and check out the school.

Too bad it couldn't be Hara-san.

…

The only other time that Ishii Yoshito had been so stunned was the time that his daughter had announced that she was a lesbian and was moving away to America to marry her girlfriend.

Well, maybe he wasn't quite as shocked as that time, but seeing the boy that could have mingled in with the principal's students and not stand out left him a little speechless.

And he proclaimed that he was the boss? He hadn't felt this duped in a long time.

As he shook hands with the so called 'boss' he wondered who was really behind this. He was pretty sure that the tall man with the unacceptable hair-do was really the boss, and just letting the kid feel good about himself.

Maybe if this kid had been in school, he would have learned some manners about being humble…

The principal stood at the sidelines as the two conversed and then the tall man went to retrieve a camera from the van. And it was a very fancy looking one, to top it all off. He had never seen such a spoiled child.

"What is that?" he asked the 'boss' as the tall man walked past them with the camera and a tripod.

"It's a camera to do business with, sir. Now, I suggest that you return to your duties."

My, this lad. He was a quarter the principal's age and yet he acted like he was ten-years older than him.

Returning to his office (because he chose to, he told himself, not because he was told to), he bumped into the vice principal.

"How are you coping?" his lower status-silhouette asked with a sympathetic tone.

"Not very well. You could never have convinced me that the boss would have been nothing more than a child."

"Yes, that was definitely unanticipated…" he hesitated for a moment.

"Is something wrong?" Yoshito asked.

"Well, I have the number of a monk from my daughter. She says that he exorcises spirits and does cleansing or whatever-the-stuff psychics do… I was going to keep quiet, but now I see that maybe it could be of some use."

Yoshito took it with glee. A monk. Of all the wonders…! Having a real monk on the grounds – bald, robes, stately air – he could take care of all the problems he was having.

He rushed off to dial the phone number, forgetting to ask why his _daughter _of all people would have the phone number of such a person.

…

The man had sounded more exuberant on the phone than he had been anticipating. Overall, though, the man was lively and polite. He looked forward to meeting him.

Yoshito was with his wife at the moment for an evening church gathering. Frankly, he was quite bored while she was mixing with all her friends and talking. He stayed in a corner and managed to sleep while standing.

"Ah, it's nice to see you here, sir."

The familiar, terrible accent and dialect immediately alerted him to who this was before he opened his eyes.

It was none other than John Brown, the foreigner that occasionally occupied this church.

"Good day," Yoshito said, "How has your week been?"

"The same as last week. Very relaxed and interesting."

Yoshito didn't know much about John Brown. He was pretty sure no one knew much about John Brown. He didn't know how long he'd been in Japan, or why he was here, but he was always an interesting person to talk to if you could figure out what he was trying to say.

And then, he remembered. He did know something important about John. For heaven's sake, why hadn't he thought of this sooner?

"John, you are, by terms, an exorcist, correct?"

John looked a little uncomfortable from the sudden question. "Yes… why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if you could do something for me…"

…

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that he was probably collecting way too many psychic people for this simple thing, but the pretty red-headed woman sitting on the other side of his desk was too nice to say no to.

Apparently his secretary had heard about his intentions and dilemma for the old school-house, and had called in a friend. She had dropped in this morning without any fanfare or calling beforehand. Matsuzaki Ayako was very polite and civil, with a strong-willed air about her.

"It's so very nice of you to drop out of nowhere and help with this. It truly is beginning to worry me sick," he told her.

"It's my pleasure to help someone in need. It is what I do, of course."

Before their conversation went anywhere else, Yoshito's secretary brought in a man with long messy hair swept up in a ponytail, wearing street clothing and had a very much unrefined air about him.

Yoshito was too shocked to speak, especially once the man announced himself as Takigawa Houshou.

No, no, no, no.

A fake monk? He didn't need a fake monk. He needed a real-looking monk. Where was this Monk from Mt. Koya he was promised?

"Are you sure you're him?" Yoshito asked, perhaps a little too fool-heartedly.

The monk made a show of looking behind his shoulder before saying, "Yes, I'm afraid so."

"Sir," the red-headed lady said, "don't be above dismissing him. I'm quite sure of my skills of a miko to exorcise the ghost on my own."

"Really? Don't mind if I hang around and watch this, do you?" the man said.

Her eyebrows tried to meet in the middle of her forehead and her lips fell into an intense frown when she looked at him.

"Who are you, by the way?" the monk said.

"Ah, I have a great idea." Yoshito stood up and clapped his hands together, making them jump. "How about you both go out and meet the other mediums?"

"What? They're still here? I thought that you would have already told them to go, the way you talked about him being a conniving school kid on the phone," the monk said.

"Who?" the red-head said.

Well, in light of the truth… Yoshito was actually too afraid to send him away, which is why he would have thought it would just be easier to call in more.

But now he was starting to realize how many he currently had.

How much was all this going to cost, by the way…?

"His name is Shibuya Kazuya, and he 'apparently' owns the Shibuya Psychic Research in Shibuya."

"I've never heard of him," the red-head said, and the monk echoed her words.

The principal shrugged. He supposed that even ghost hunters had to have competition amongst themselves, as any business setting did.

…

The monk followed the red-head out the door, both of them bickering all the way out. Even though they were acting like they knew each other, it would not stop him from inviting her out to dinner later.

The phone started to ring, and he eyed it like it would bite his hand.

"Hello?" he said into the receiver, with a cautious tone edging in his voice.

"Ishii Yoshito-san. A pleasure to talk to you."

"May I ask who is calling?"

"I'm Hara Masako-san's agent. I'm calling on her behalf that she'll be arriving at your school today shortly."

"I – what? She's really coming?"

"Unfortunately yes. She's decided to take the case herself. Ishii-san, I expect you to take good care of her. I don't want any injuries befalling her on this misadventure of hers."

"I – but of course. I won't let anything happen to Hara-san."

"You better not."

When the phone line went dead, he was still processing what had truly just happened.

He'll be on TV! There's no way she wouldn't bring a camera with her. She's too big a celebrity for that. He was so thankful that she had decided to come to his school and to assist him. He should just fire all the other people right now.

You know, he thought he was quite suited for TV. He thought he had the voice for it. He probably could have been a president in a past life.

"Hello, sir?"

Ah, if it wasn't John Brown to completely ruin his daydream.

"Yes. Hello," Yoshito said.

"Is something the matter?"

"No, nothing at all." He would not tell John that he had just contemplated firing him. "What would you say about going to meet the rest of the crew?"

"The rest of the crew? You mean there's more here?"

"Ah, yes, with such a big, dangerous spirit, I thought it be best that there was plenty of you psychic people."

"Big and dangerous? I don't quite remember you mentioning that…"

"Anyhow, let us be off."

As they went along, John looked quite uncomfortable as Yoshito was explaining all the other ghost hunters that had come along. A high-tech hunter, a miko, a monk, a _celebrity_. John honestly wondered why he was here at all.

Yoshito spotted all of them by the big white van (you know, the one that people always thought of when they thought 'kidnapping vehicle'). The monk and miko had already made it there. Well, it appeared that everyone was having a fair time.

Hm? Were those his students? Kuroda-san? And was that Taniyama-san? What is she doing being distracted from school…perhaps he should bring a stop to it?

In the end he decided that it might be good for her. Perhaps she'll become a conniving ghost hunter kid too, one day.

Ha-ha-ha…

"Ah, everyone is together," Yoshito said. "I want to introduce you guys to the other guest."

Everyone definitely looked… dumbstruck. Yoshito really wasn't surprised. John was a pretty bad example of a foreigner to a native. Blonde, short, ultimately too cute looking.

"This is John Brown-san. Please give him a warm welcome."

John bowed, "How are you doing?"

Everybody watched him, with flabbergasted looks on their faces as they processed that the foreigner is trying to speak their language. Now that he really thought about it, John's Japanese is much worse than he had originally thought… perhaps he had just gotten use to it and didn't notice it as much.

Except for now…

"Um," he put a forced smile onto his face. "Brown-san learned Japanese in the Kansai area…"

And then came the laughter. Oh, the laughter was really embarrassing. It was like Yoshito had placed John amidst the crowd of laughing people in his circus.

John's confusion didn't help. Obviously he didn't associate too much with people in Japan, which generally led back to the original thought of how long had John been here, and why was he in Japan?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a very nice car driving towards the school. Why, that could be no one other than Hara Masako! He better be on his way!

"Well then, I'll just leave it at that," he said, swiftly making his getaway. They probably all wanted to get to know each other, anyway.

He heard John call after him, "Thank you."

Yoshito had to honestly wonder if John was being sarcastic or not.

…

When Hara Masako and her driver were all that were standing in the parking lot, Yoshito had to stop himself from trying to look around the lot to see if there were people with cameras hiding in corners.

"You're the only one here?" he asked.

On that still-frame face of hers, she gave him a cool look. "Does that pose a problem?"

"No… no…"

"I'll see you when I call you," Hara-san told the driver, who only nodded his head.

"Well, ah, let me introduce you to the other mediums…" Yoshito said, admiring her kimono.

"You mean, I'm not the only one here?" She put her hand up to her mouth, which was covered by her sleeve, which by turn completely covered the lower half of her pretty face.

"There's a… few other people present."

She tilted her head, which seemed possibly like a shrug. In a very delicate way. "If you don't mind, I'll escort myself."

"I… well, if you must. Please be careful Hara-san, for the old school is very dangerous."

Walking past him, she didn't bother answering. Which Yoshito thought was very rude. She really was nothing like she was on TV. Except pretty. She was pretty.

She and that Shibuya Psychic Research guy could probably run a business together, of all the scamming children in the world…

Watching her walk to the school with small, dainty steps, he realized something.

Why, she probably thought this was all just a silly, downtime ordeal. Somewhere to get away and relax for awhile… all the while presumably 'working'.

Now Ishii Yoshito was starting to feel used.

…

He had been invited to Miko-san's exorcism.

He would definitely ask her out to dinner today.

Yoshito had come with the vice-principal, whom didn't quite seem as excited. Both of them, plus John, helped her set up her wooden altar as she stood aside in her ceremonious robes and instructed them where to put things. Yoshito was a little dismayed about the work, but he was pleased that Miko-san would be the one to slay the spirit.

They were told to stand behind her when she conducted the exorcism. After awhile of her chanting to the gods and waving her pom-pom made out of paper around, the principal's eyes started to droop a bit, much to his surprise.

When it was all (finally) over, Miko-san said, "Now there should be nothing to worry about. Our work here is finished."

Yoshito _knew_ that she would be the one to solve all of this. "Good job, Matsuzaki-san. Everything was very beautiful."

At least, what he paid attention to.

"How about we have dinner to celebrate?" he said.

"It's best to check over things right after the exorcism is complete," she replied.

It… could it be? Had he been turned down? Sure, he might have a few more years added than her, but really –

"Of course, you are a professional after all," Yoshito said. Then, in vain to try and not make his feeble attempt of asking her out obvious, he said, "Did anyone eat lunch? How about we all go out and have lunch?"

Then, he had to admit, weird things started happening as they approached the entrance. Creaking. Like something was breaking into the school.

The ear-splitting scream of glass shattering was something that would haunt the principal for the rest of his days. Yoshito was so discombobulated that he didn't realize he was so close to the next set of windows destined to shatter. The feel of sharp glass slicing into your skin was not something he had wanted to ever experience.

People were talking all around him, but he was just a little too distracted that there was blood coming out of his head from a cluster of cuts to hear what they were saying.

_Oh, god, I'm going to die,_ he thought.

…

Yoshito had only barely come back from the hospital later that day (a few stitches, was all) before he was on the phone with Hara-san's agent explaining that Hara-san had fallen from the second floor of the building and was currently in the hospital…

It only strengthened his resolve: he had done the right thing by contacting so many psychics for how dangerous this ghost obviously was.

"Exactly what happened?" he questioned the young kid who thought he was a hot-shot. "I called you here so you could exorcise the ghost. Before, your assistant was injured, and now someone else is injured… those rumors are—"

The kid interrupted, "My assistant was injured because of a brainless student of yours."

Honestly, Yoshito did not like this kid's attitude towards his students. He did not have 'brainless' students.

The kid continued, "Before Hara-san shifted into unconsciousness, she insisted that there were no ghosts here. She said this was an accident due to her carelessness. Don't worry."

Don't worry. Don't _worry_! Yoshito couldn't begin to describe to this person the pain he had to go through talking to her agent. If the agent had heard that there wasn't actually a ghost involved…

"I'll go back and continue to investigate," Shibuya-san said. He bowed, and exited Yoshito's office.

The principal had kind of planned on firing him right then and there (possibly blaming Hara-san's injury on him) but there was just a tug on his gut that told him that this person was the most trustworthy one here.

He wondered where that possibly came from…

…

Yoshito was left out of the loop for a while after that. He frankly didn't want to go back into the building after his head injury, so he didn't mind, just as long as they got rid of it.

Which he was beginning to wonder if that was actually possible. Maybe he should call in someone else.

He was only getting occasional updates from John, since everyone else he hired kept him in the dark. The priest had said that he was doing his exorcism that day, which apparently didn't go too well. Then later he told him that the Koya monk had done his exorcism, and had apparently failed, too. There had been some more damage done by the ghost to the school, and it seemed that Taniyama-san had gotten hurt in the process (another one).

He wondered who would pay for_ her _hospital bill.

It took a little while for Shibuya-san to contact him again, concerning an experiment that he wanted to do on the people involved, inside Yoshito-san's office.

Why did that not sound like a pleasant thing?

Although, at this point, he was willing to help all he can, especially for such a simple task of letting him use the office.

Shibuya-san brought in a little thing that was presumably a lamp. He hadn't bothered to tell Yoshito _what_ type of experiment this was. He plugged it in as people filed in.

Monk-san, Miko-san, John, and, thank god, Hara-san. Besides perhaps looking a little paler than normal, she looked alert and stable.

It wasn't long until Kuroda-san and Taniyama-san arrived. Taniyama-san spotted the principal and waved, "Sorry we're late…" she said.

"Is everyone who was involved in the case accounted for?" Shibuya-san asked.

Yoshito nodded. But truly, how was he supposed to know that?

In response, Shibuya-san started closing the curtains, and then turned the little lamp on. He had said before that the principal had no need to take part in the experiment, but to just be present. So that was what Yoshito did. He tried to ignore what Shibuya-san was saying and just looked fixedly ahead.

This Shibuya-san had some strange voodoo experiment going on…

The light suddenly snapped on, and Yoshito jumped from it. He hadn't even remembered Shibuya-san moving.

"Thank you for your cooperation," he said.

The young man bowed before making his leave. It left everyone in disarray from his immediate departure, and the only one that ran after him was Taniyama-san.

Oh, come now, Taniyama-san, you can do better than that.

Yoshito caught John before he left, who was the last one leaving.

"John, is there anything going on you should let me in on? How's the case going?"

All John said in reply was, "Interesting", before he left.

…

Being the principal that Yoshito was, he always arrived early to school. He was glad so, because then he met up with Shibuya-san and his tall assistant, on crutches and a wrapped ankle.

Ah, wonderful, _another_ person was allowed out of the hospital.

"Is everything going well?" Yoshito asked them.

"Yes, thank you," Shibuya-san said. They were both staring intently at a small computer screen.

Yoshito wanted to continue questioning them, but he decided that he was too tired to keep asking questions. Hopefully someone will just tell him if they ever finish.

Hmph. He was beginning to wonder if there was actually a ghost in there at all.

…

Then later that day, he was rewarded by seeing Shibuya-san come to his office to tell him that the case had been solved.

"What? What? Truly? What was it?"

"The ghosts present there were many spirits of soldiers that had died in the war. We've completed the exorcism, and so the demolition project should be safe to proceed with," Shibuya-san said.

Soldiers from the war? Which war? He didn't ever remember soldiers being housed around here… this young man should read up on his history.

Ah, what does it matter, though? As long as it was safe, and the spirits are gone…

"Who actually got rid of them?" Yoshito blurted out.

"Everyone had an equal value to this case."

So it wasn't just Hara-san? Hm, then apparently all these so-called 'ghost hunters' had a lot more to offer than most.

"I guess I'll have your fee written up," the principal said. In fact, he had quite a few fees that needed to be written up…

As Yoshito was brooding, Shibuya-san said, "May I ask you a few questions?"

Did he really hear that come out of Shibuya-san's mouth? "Yes, please… go ahead."

"Your young student – Taniyama Mai-san – is she allowed to have a part-time job?"

"Oh, yes, we allow that…"

"Do her parents need to be contacted?"

"No, Taniyama-san has no parents. She's an orphan, and lives on her own. Any extra money she can come by would probably be very miraculous to her."

Shibuya-san seemed surprised by the principal's words. What? Didn't he wonder about Taniyama-san's strange hours of showing up?

"That'll be all, thank you," Shibuya-san said.

"Thank you for everything, Shibuya…sama," Yoshito said.

Shibuya-sama bowed before making his departure.

…

A short while after that, Yoshito watched as the old school collapsed to the ground with such force that it made the school shake.

Ah, it'll be easier to clean it up and build the gymnasium now…

Yoshito had to honestly admit: the last few days had been very strange.


	4. Deception

**Deception**

Summary: Raymond Wall was not a good actor, and it showed through his performance.

Note 1: This is from the Blood-Soaked Maze case, and any scenes and dialogue were a mixture taken from both the novel and the manga.

WC: 1,642

Note 2: In the novel, the false Dr. Davis' name was Raymond Woore. I kept the manga and anime translation of his surname for ease.

* * *

...

When Raymond Wall had been recruited for the job as an imposter, he had not known that other English speakers would be hired.

Thankfully the group seemed to believe the farce. The Australian kid would translate any praise that the cute teenage girl and the older man had to give. Admiration. Curiosity. Respect. He got the same emotions from other people that could speak handfuls of English.

In truth, though, he couldn't help but feel like he was a thief, stealing away praise that was meant for another man.

He was able to keep his cool, no matter what anybody asked or said to him. He had been picked for this job because of his poker face, after all.

...

Wall had been in his own fair share of Ouija board sessions, hypnotism, and PK parties. Séances were not new to him. But he had never been to one where a woman's hand had been so possessed, or where the knocking sounds were so deliriously loud.

He had to admit that they left him cowed. As the assistant's hand flew across the papers, the feelings of unease and of being watched were more intense than he had ever experienced. He held onto the wall, nearly gluing himself to it in an attempt to escape.

That was about when he was wondering what in Hell had he gotten himself into.

...

He sat in the Dining Room, nervously drinking tea that a staff member had brought to him. The drink warmed his chilled, lying mouth.

Suzuki had disappeared this morning. The head woman of her society had been so frantic when she handed him a contacts case. Wall had held it in his hands for a moment, willing that somehow he would have a vision to save the young woman. But it was to no avail.

Minami ended up giving them a blurred excuse as to how psychometry worked. Wall was surprised that they listened to such an excuse, but no one really knew how the great Dr. Davis' psi abilities worked.

Minami finished by telling them that Suzuki had probably just run away.

...

Wall originally had thought it would be easy to hold this bluff. Minami had not only picked him because he had the look and sound of an English gentleman, but because he was well educated with the real Dr. Davis' work. He had read his books dozens of times and had examined cases that Dr. Davis' had worked on.

Of course, Wall thought he would be safe and cushioned under the guise of only speaking English. He would not get too many questions or conversation from people. Nobody but Minami knew that Walls also spoke Japanese. Rough and unrefined, but understandable.

In the end, Wall had never thought that this… case would be so dangerous. He was used to the paranormal. Except to the modern paranormal-wannabe researcher, the most scary things you might see are tapping sounds on walls, doors slamming, a table floating. Perhaps an apparition if you're lucky. But in this building, he felt like he was seeing a side to the paranormal that was only seen in horror shows.

It made him very uncomfortable and out of his league. Especially now since people were scrutinizing.

The ones he felt that were most analyzing him was the Japanese branch of the SPR. Particularly Shibuya Kazuya's 'assistant' and his tall, Chinese shadow.

The 'assistant' happened to be sitting in the same room as Wall at the moment. Looking papers over and drinking a cup of coffee. The kid had been in here when he arrived, which gave Wall the tingling feel that he had been waiting for him.

He tried to drink his tea as fast as he could, and just act like the kid was a fan waiting to jump him.

"Dr. Davis," the boy said, in a perfectly clear, unclipped-by-an-accent English.

"Yes?" Wall knew that it would only be more suspicious to ignore the kid, but all he wanted to do was run out of the Dining Room.

"I enjoyed your book on ESP research."

Wall almost let out a loud sigh, but he held that back, as well as his smile.

Why, this boy really was just a closet fan.

"Thank you very much," Wall said.

Even though he should have felt more comfortable, why did the air between them feel so ill at ease?

He was finished with his tea. He put his suit jacket on as he sat up, ready to do a speed jog out of the Dining Room.

Before he could start, the kid spoke again, never looking up from the papers that Wall was convinced that he wasn't reading.

"I know who you are."

Wall thought that he had already made that clear.

"Or rather… who you're not."

Raymond Wall dropped the teacup that he had been picking up to busy his hands. It shattered on the floor. His heart thumped in his throat to the point he couldn't make his lungs draw in breath. He walked out of the room, almost bumping into a maid that had come to clean up the broken cup.

He never looked behind him, but he could feel the boy's eyes on his back.

...

It was after that when it felt as if everybody started disappearing. First Suzuki, then Atsugi, then one of their own, Fukuda.

People started asking then. They brandished items at him, pleading to him to find the missing persons. He held the items that held no energy to him and gave his best, weak guesses.

"I think the missing persons will be in the west."

It surprised him that Narumi had not spoken to anyone about his deduction about the fake Dr. Davis. There was no way to deny it or play the game anymore. He had panicked and had run out of the Dining Room, and was nearly shaking with the fact that this kid could call him out any second.

And he had no doubt that everyone would believe the kid.

"We've found corpses," Narumi said. Kazuya Shibuya had run away, leaving his head assistant in charge. Narumi seemed more like the boss anyway, in Wall's opinion.

"Corpses?" Ohashi-san said. It looked as if his face was turning green.

Narumi continued. "I think that they're probably the two who had disappeared in February."

"Where were they found?" Igarashi-sensei said, putting her hand to her mouth when Narumi stated that they were found in the west end of the building. "Then it's just like the Doctor said!"

Wall felt like his fears were coming alive.

"What do you mean, Igarashi-sensei?" Narumi asked.

"The Doctor told me before when I had asked about the missing persons' whereabouts, he said west of here."

Minami clenched his hands around the tablecloth hanging by his lap, wringing it until his fists turned white.

"Sensei, did you hear me?" Narumi said, "If the people who disappeared in February are already dead, I think that the other missing persons have almost no hope of survival."

Igarashi's expression faltered. "Then you're saying that Suzuki-san's…dead?"

"Not just Suzuki-san, but probably Atsugi-san and Fukuda-san, too."

"But it's been quite some time since the people went missing in February. Couldn't have those people just have gotten lost?"

"They couldn't have gotten lost in that room."

"What?"

"That room was completely sealed from the outside. We had to open a hole in the wall to get in. Normal people using normal methods wouldn't be able to get inside. That isn't a place where someone could get lost in."

"Then…that means…" Igarashi-sensei covered her face with her hands, trying to hide the horror carved into her face with her wrinkles.

In a flurry that Ohashi-san could not keep up with, the other societies started saying that they were withdrawing and made rapid actions to make their leave.

Wall wanted to run out of the room, and Minami looked like he was planning on doing the same thing.

"I can't put my own life in danger for those missing!" Imura-san said, stomping out of the room with his sandaled feet.

Minami's other assistant grabbed at his arm. "Should we leave too, Mr. President?" her voice shook.

Wall looked at Minami with pleading eyes.

"Very well," Minami said, "I agree. Come on, Doctor…"

"You're not going to help search for Atsugi-san and Fukuda-san?" the young girl from the SPR said loudly.

Minami replied, "If we could search for them safely, it would not be a problem. But what if we're only adding ourselves to the victim list? We're withdrawing."

"P-Please stay Doctor. Please, we need your help." The old woman latched onto Wall's wrist, her frantic eyes making his own guilt stab him in the heart.

"Please use your abilities to look for Suzuki-san!" she was shouting not from anger, but from pure fear and concern. "I beg of you, Dr. Davis!"

Wall shook his free hand, as if wanting the whole matter to just be dismissed. "I'm not."

There was a silence not even interrupted by a breath.

"I'm not Davis!" Wall was too afraid to shake off the old lady. "I… I'm not the Professor. My – my name is Raymond Wall. It's not Davis!"

"What are you saying?" Igarashi yelled, gripping his wrist tighter.

"Stop it!" Minami shouted at Wall, but the spoken words could not be taken back.

Wall tried his hardest to convey what he meant through his fractured Japanese. "He says lies. He only says things. It... It's not me. Minami-san said that I am Davis."

He could see Minami's face contort and his fists clench as he continued. "I want to go back. Please. I just want to go back."

Igarashi let go of Wall's wrist from shock or repulsion, he wasn't sure. Wall hurried out of the room towards the corridor. Minami ran after him.

Nobody stopped them.


End file.
